“On the West Coast the dominant Latino community is Mexican,” she explains. “I just wanted to include all Latinos and expand awareness of the culture to include those who trace their roots to Central America, South America and the Caribbean.”
To achieve her goal, Girona began coordinating a performance of Latinologues 2 by Rick Najera. The Multicultural Center’s Marylyn Paik-Nicely, director and Jerri Jones Assistance, administrative support, have provided assistance. The play is the sequel to Najera’s original Broadway show and features comedy intermixed with social commentary. The play explores the experience of being a Latino in the United States replete with struggle, joy and perseverance.
“I wanted to perform the play for kind of selfish reasons,” says Girona, a senior majoring in International Studies. “I’m Puerto Rican and lots of people don’t really know what that means. So, I wanted to create a space for two things: one, to empower Latino people to tell their story and two, to produce the show with an all Latino cast.”
Girona describes experiencing “massive cultural shock” when arriving at Humboldt State five years ago. The East Coast native soon found that the “mellow” West Coast atmosphere of Northern California meant she needed to alter her patterns of communication, change her interpersonal relationship skills and essentially adapt to her new community. With help from the Multicultural Center and through the process of producing Latinologues 2, Girona is finding a way to share her culture with the North Coast.
“The play does a good job of highlighting differences in cultures and in a very short time you get to experience various perspectives. I really wanted people to understand and know about the differences in Latino culture and ‘Latinologues’ was a good way to do that.”
Performances of Latinologues 2 will be Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8:00 p.m. in the Gist Hall Theatre. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the performance is free.